News Releases

Opal® Apples Deliver A Truly Out-Of-This-World Experience

Yakima, WA; January 12, 2015- The sweet and crispy Opal apple
had the prestigious honor of being sent up to the International
Space Station this past Saturday. The news came last fall when The
Johnson Space Center sent the request for apples to FirstFruits of
Washington, a collaborative apple marketing company owned by
growers.

"This is a special honor, to be able to provide fresh apples to
the crew members at the International Space Station," said Ralph
Broetje, owner-operator of Broetje Orchards. "When we got the
request for apples we knew right away that we wanted to send Opal,
the most special apple in our line-up."

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the seventh Dragon
spacecraft on the fifth operational cargo delivery mission to the
International Space Station on January 10, 2015 from Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station in Florida. The flight is being conducted under
the Commercial Resupply Services contract with
NASA.

NASA indicated in its request it wanted to connect the fresh
fruit back to the actual farmers, and approached FirstFruits of
Washington and their growers with the request. The founders of
Broetje Orchards and exclusive growers of Opal apple in North
America, Ralph and Cheryl Broetje, were happy to oblige and sent a
note to accompany the apples to the space station.

Because of the high cost of sending items into space, the
quantity of apples is limited, which means only one or two apples
per crew member. Expedition 41 launched on September 25, 2014. The
crew consists of three Russian cosmonauts, two NASA astronauts, and
one member of the European Space Agency. The question is, will they
share nicely or try to hoard them for themselves just like people
do here on planet Earth?

UEB 32642 variety apples are grown exclusively by Broetje
Orchards and distributed under the OPAL® brand name by First Fruits
Marketing in North America.

FirstFruits Marketing is a collaborative apple marketing company
owned by growers. These growers share a commitment to producing
high quality fruit while balancing the demands of purpose, people,
planet and profit so that a portion of profits can be donated to
non-profit missions supporting the underserved. For more
Information, visit www.firstfruits.com